 "'Hanging on like a bad smell': Alex Ferguson accused of influencing Manchester United's decisions")
Alex Ferguson has been accused of hanging on to Manchester United like a “bad smell” by club legend Roy Keane. The Red Devils are once again on a search for a new manager with Ruben Amorim becoming the latest head coach to be shown the exit door at the Old Trafford.
The 84-year-old, widely regarded as arguably the greatest manager in the history of the game, left United in 2013 after a long and highly successful 27-year reign. Since then, the Red Devils have been in a freefall with inconsistent results and consistent managerial changes.
READ | Why Manchester United have been sacking managers since Alex Ferguson’s retirement
Amorim is the sixth manager to be sacked since Ferguson’s retirement as the club continues to chase success which has been hard to come for more than a decade now.
Keane slams Ferguson
The next manager will be the 12th, permanent and interim combined, to take charge of the club and Keane questioned how these appointments are made and then quickly discarded.
“What happens in these job interviews? I’m intrigued. Why do they keep giving certain people a job? What happens in the interview that they sit there and go, and 12, 14 months later, ‘He’s not the guy for us’. Do you not suss (suspect) that out when you speak to them?" Keane said on Sky Sports.
He then asked who is really taking decisions at the club and suggested that Ferguson is among the people influencing the calls.
“You see who’s making the decisions at Manchester United. You still have Ferguson and David Gill hanging on like a bad smell. Who’s making the decisions? Ratcliffe, Wilcox?” Keane asked. “Who’s coming into this interview process, you’re speaking to a manager, you get a feel for somebody and go ‘he’s the guy for us?’”
Ferguson regularly attends United’s home matches and recently the new caretaker manager Darren Fletcher also said that he does not take any big calls without consulting the octogenarian.
“I don’t like to make any major decisions without speaking to Sir Alex. I’ve got a really good relationship with Sir Alex, so I wanted to speak to him first and ultimately to get his blessing, to be perfectly honest with you. I think he deserves that respect,” Fletcher said after his appointment as interim manager.
In October 2024, Ferguson was asked to not enter the United dressing room, marking the end of a long-standing tradition at the club where former manager could were welcome to go in and talk to the players.
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